How Does Graying Hair Affect Your Seasonal Colors?

I'm a natural redhead who is getting grayer. How does this change my season? I am very fair with blue eyes and have been classified in the past as a warm spring.

Also as I am aging (53) my skin is getting ruddier rather than being pasty white as when I was in my 20's & 30's.

BTW I really like your website. Lots of good info. Thanks.

Age causes your hair to gray, skin tone to become cooler and lighter, and your eye color to lose its brightness.

You'll notice that you look better in cooler and/or less intense colors than the ones you wore when you were younger and your coloring was brighter and had more depth to it.

Less intensity - cooler color palette

This results in moving down on the intensity scale of your personal coloring. You basically have to determine your seasonal group based on the colorings you have now. Based on the description you provided I would say you are now a Cool Winter (blue eyes, ruddy-fair skin and salt & pepper red hair). However, if you have a lighter shade of red hair color, you may now be a Light Spring, and as your coloring gets cooler you may turn into a Light Summer.

The only way to be absolutely, 100% sure of your current seasonal group for your coloring is to opt for a professional online color analysis where the analyst will ask you to submit several images of you wearing different colors, close-ups (to inspect the intensity of your eye color, etc.) along with pictures of you as a child.

Seasonal Color Analysis: I Have Salt and Pepper Hair. Am I Still a Winter?

by Carole
(Idaho, United States)

I am on a fashion makeover/comeback mission for myself. Two decades ago I easily analyzed my color/season (seasonal color analysis) to be that of Winter -- with dark brown hair (no red in it) and bright blue eyes. Skin tone cool beige.

Today I have salt and pepper hair and blue eyes (maybe not quite as bright, but definitely still blue). My skin tone is still cool beige. I still love Winter colors, but it is very difficult to analyze my coloring because salt and pepper, gray, silver, white hair is almost NEVER mentioned in color analysis.

Will you please help me to know if I am still Winter in the seasonal color analysis, and if so which category of Winter would I be?

Hi Carole,

since coloring was already analyzed to be of Winter two decades ago, chances are that you still are a Winter season, but a much cooler version within the Winter season.

Your coloring is cooling down

To me, it sounds like you're a Cool Winter today, and that you may have been a Clear Winter when you were younger. Many Clear Winters have bright blue (or any bright, piercing or sparkly color) eyes and dark hair. And since your blue eyes aren't as bright today and your hair is a mix of dark brown and grey, then your coloring is leaning a bit towards Cool Winter. This means that your color palette is "cooled down":

Cool Winter Palette

Seasonal color analysis: Women's color palette changes as they age

Typically ss we get older (late 30's and up), the skin tone (sometimes the veins turns bluish), hair and eye color lose some of their depth - as well as diffuse and greys. Cool-toned colors will then look better on them as they flatter salt and pepper/white/grey hair.